FALL RIVER — It was a full court press from Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera, Mayor Will Flanagan and Kenneth Fiola Jr., vice president of the Fall River Office of Economic Development, to push for a proposed $750 million resort casino during a public hearing Thursday night at Government Center. Attendees who were seemingly split as proponents and opponents of the project packed the atrium.

In a 25-minute presentation, Butera said Foxwoods has been in existence for 22 years.

“And I can say, you don’t last that long unless you run a very high-quality operation, you have a great relationship with the town that you’re in, the city that you’re in and the state you operate in,” Butera said. “You provide great jobs, but not only do you provide great jobs, you provide great economic benefits to the people you’re around and great social benefit.”

Butera said everything Foxwoods does is done with a great deal of thought and a business model to run properties that are very luxurious and high quality.

“We are going to run a grand resort in the tradition of Fall River, Mass.” Butera said.

Speaking on the design, Butera said there will be no casino in the world that will look like the proposed project “because it’s not meant to look like a casino, it will look like it’s been here 100 years.”

The proposed casino may have 3,000 slots and 90 table games, a 300 room hotel, entertainment, retail space and over 10 bars and restaurants, and employ about 2,000.

He said there were jobs at Foxwoods for “just about every walk of life.”

The figure for employment numbers and eating and drinking establishments is different than originally proposed, with Foxwoods and the Flanagan administration touting 3,000 to 5,000 jobs and about 20 dining venues until Thursday night.

Fiola said that, while it wasn’t agreed upon yet, the city would negotiate that 55 percent of the jobs at the casino would go to Fall River residents and a percentage of the remaining 45 percent to city veterans.

Flanagan said he thought every man and woman coming out of the service should have an opportunity for employment.

If Foxwoods is granted the Region C gaming license, the city will receive a substantial up-front payment and consecutive payments as the construction of the facility moves ahead as part of the host community agreement, he said.

Butera touted Foxwoods’ charitable giving and said that it spends about $40 million to $50 million in goods and services to local business.

“I think, for every one job at Foxwoods, it adds a job in local businesses,” Butera said.

After about a half-hour into the forum, Butera left for a prior engagement, leaving many residents with unanswered questions from the casino CEO.

Page 2 of 3 - Fiola outlined the legally required content of a host community agreement that must be completed before a special election can be held, which includes financial benefits to a community and the economic development of the host community, including job creation.

Flanagan said his goal is to have the agreement complete and have it before voters in early June.

Foxwoods’ deadline is July 23 to have the application submitted to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, and Fiola said the commission is scheduled to award a license by November. Foxwoods would likely begin construction in January.

But the Gaming Commission is considering extending the application deadline.

While many in the audience expressed support for the casino plan, there were a number of concerns, including traffic, the safety of students at the Letourneau Elementary School that abuts the site of the New Harbour Mall, wages, union involvement and money for additional crime and addiction services.

Both Flanagan and Fiola stressed that mitigating circumstances have to be identified in the host community agreement and that a traffic study would be conducted by Foxwoods.

“The beauty about this thing is you’re going to have a say in this, you have a voice to vote this thing forward,” Fiola said. “I’m Fall River, you’re Fall River. We’re all in this together.”

“Baloney,” shouted out one unconvinced resident.

Before the casino can open, any mitigating traffic issues would have to be solved, Fiola said.

A resident said he felt that because the CEO left early in the forum, there were questions that couldn’t be answered by the panel.

“I think everybody in this room should be a little insulted that the gentleman from Foxwoods left,” he said. “A lot of people came out and sat down and asked a lot of questions, and no disrespect, but he can’t answer these questions.”

Questions arose on whether Foxwoods would further expand the footprint of the casino, citing the former Shaw’s market property and the next door First Ford car lot.

Fiola said the city could be looking to establish an overlay district in the area that would allow for similar developments.

Edward Roderick, president of the Tiverton Town Council, raised his hand for more than an hour attempting to ask a question. Tiverton is less that a quarter mile from the project site, but under the state gaming law, only Massachusetts communities are allowed to enter into community agreements.

Roderick said he isn’t personally against the casino, but all the issues he heard during the forum will be the same concerns in his community.

Page 3 of 3 - “I want to make sure the town of Tiverton has a voice,” Roderick said.